


Days of Embers and Eyeshadow

by MaroonCamaro



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Firefighters, Because it's really hot, Bottom Daryl, Did you see Norman in makeup??, Fluff and Humor, I hate tagging, I just needed an excuse to put Daryl in makeup, I mean, Just because of Rick's thing for it, M/M, Rick has a thing for Daryl in makeup, Rickyl Writers' Group, Sexy Firefighters, Sexy Times, The makeup that is, come for the funnies, ok I have a thing for Norman in makeup, stay for the sex, there i said it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2015-12-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 03:28:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5569153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaroonCamaro/pseuds/MaroonCamaro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rick and Daryl are new to the house and so aren't prepared for how competitive <i>some</i> people are about the yearly calendar the department does for charity. And of course our boys can barely contain their attraction for each other through it all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Days of Embers and Eyeshadow

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, lots of people to thank! 
> 
> Thank you to1lostonefor betaing.
> 
> Thank you to [ArchLucie](http://archiveofourown.org/works/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&work_search%5Bquery%5D=archlucie) for telling me, 'Duh, this is not a winter fic.'
> 
> And thank you to [Skarlatha](http://archiveofourown.org/users/skarlatha/pseuds/skarlatha) for pretty much giving me the title.

Abe had been on the cover the first year. Just wearing his pants and suspenders with an axe slung over his shoulder, a hard glint in his eye. He’d gotten pissed at the photographer for calling him a ginger, that’s what got him the cover. Although his tight abs and firm pecs didn’t hurt either. 

Shane had gotten it two years in a row. The first year head unabashedly undone his pants enough that their was no doubt that he kept himself well trimmed everywhere. The second year, he was ass up and naked on top of the number three rig, that year the calendars had sold out the first week.

Glenn got it one year because his smile was so fucking cute and shy. The marketing guys said it was the first year that as many women bought it as men. Glenn begged to never be put on the cover again.

Aaron, Tyreese, Bob, they all had a turn. And when Michonne and Tara finally convinced the powers that be that they should be allowed in the calendar too because they were part of the house as much as the guys, they shared the cover. The marketing guys said it was fifty/fifty on the female/male purchaser.

Martinez still hadn’t made the cover, but he got July twice and that was just like getting the centerfold. And he didn’t really care, he actually only did it to help raise money for the widow’s fund. 

But the new guys came in just before they were scheduled to do the shoot. Daryl and Rick. Rick was all for it, of course. He was an extrovert and loved being the center of attention. He wasn’t a dick about it, just felt more comfortable being in control of a room.

Daryl had to be convinced and it wasn’t until Abe called him a coward for not doing it that he finally agreed. But he was not taking his clothes off. And he could give a shit about the cover.

The calendar came out every year on black Friday. The pictures were taken in the middle of July though. It took the marketing guys that long to pick the cover and then all the other months out of all of the shots of the crew. There was always a bit of hoopla in the paper about who got the cover to help drive up sales too.

***

“Hey, rookie.” Shane called out to Daryl on the first day of the shoot.

Daryl had been nervously watching Glenn get his picture taken for the last twenty minutes. He looked to where Shane was standing in a bathrobe, clearly naked underneath. Daryl controlled himself and didn’t snicker at the narcissistic asshat. 

“What?”

“You hoping for a fun month like October or December?” Shane motioned over to the props the photographer had brought with her. Everyone would take pictures with all the monthly themes and some without. That way everyone would get a chance at all the months. 

“Naw man,” Daryl waved him off. “I’m good with April or August or whatever. Don’t need any big holiday month.”

Shane smiled that fake smile that he does and said, “That’s good. ‘Cause there ain’t no way they’d give a good month to a rookie.”

Daryl sided eyed him, “Good thing they got you then. I’m sure your assets can cover all the good months.”

Daryl left a beaming Shane to go back into the house. He was already nervous and he didn’t need to be hazed about it on top of everything else. He just kept reminding himself it was for the widow’s fund.

He was all the way through the garage before he heard Shane shout at him, “HEY! Did you just call me fat?”

***

“Hey! Rookie!” 

Rick sighed as he paused in counting the gauze rolls in the number one ambulance. Shane really was a nice guy, but way too competitive and worried about keeping his top dog status. 

“Ain’t a rookie. Done told you that.” Rick had been a fireman for five years before coming to this house. 

Shane stopped and leaned against the side of the ambulance, his robe gaping open. “Well, you’re a newbie anyway.”   

Rick went back to counting. Shane would get around to what he wanted to say whether Rick paid attention or not. Shane like to hear the sound of his own voice.

“You angling for the cover?” 

“It’s not a competition. And I wouldn’t even be doing it except the money goes to the widow’s fund.”

Shane snorted, “I think you disagree with me just on principle.”

Rick bit back his denial, just moved on from counting gauze to counting saline bags. 

“When do you have your photo shoot?” Shane asked.

Rick had to stop and think. He really wanted to forget about it, but it was a big deal around here and everyone talked about it constantly. Maybe because Shane talked about it constantly, he wasn’t sure. “Tomorrow afternoon.”

“Huh. That rookie, Dixon, he has tomorrow afternoon too.”  

“That so?” Rick asked as he shut the supply door. He wasn’t interested. Not really. Dixon was a nice guy. Looked like he worked out. Had a mole on his face that made Rick’s fingers itch for some reason.

Shane gave a thousand watt smile, “He’s good looking. He might get a good month like July or December. Cover’s a bit harder to get though. I got it twice.”

Rick could tell by looking in Shane’s eyes he was trying to get a rise out of him. “You don’t think he’d get the cover?” Rick said with a quirked eyebrow.

“Naw, he ain’t pretty enough. But you Rick, you’re pretty. You could get it.” Shane’s eyes flicked up and down Rick’s body.

“Ain’t interested.” Rick’s eyes flicked up and down Shane’s body before turning to go. “Got nothing I need to compensate for.”

Shane looked down and huffed as he realized the robe had come undone. “I’m a grower, not a shower!” He called out to Rick’s retreating back.

***

Daryl was making himself a glass of iced tea when Rick walked in with his rolling gait that made Daryl’s belly do a little flip. The way he walked made Daryl think that he’d just been fucked. Hard. But Daryl knew that wasn’t the case. They lived in tight quarters while they were on duty. You couldn’t take a shit without half the crew knowing before you got done wiping your ass. So he knew Rick Grimes hadn’t been fucked in the last twenty four hours.

“What times your shoot tomorrow?” Rick asked as he held out his hand for the tea pitcher. 

Daryl squinted up an eye as he thought about it, “Eleven?”

Rick nodded his head, “I’m noon.”

Daryl popped the refrigerator door open for Rick to put the tea up. Rick had to bend over pretty far to get the pitcher in it’s spot, but Daryl didn’t mind the view.

“See ya then.” Daryl left to go double check his time.

“Yeah, see ya then.” Rick said as he leaned against the counter and watched Daryl walk away.

***

“All right Daryl, gonna take some long shots of just you and then we’ll start adding props,” the photographer, a slight woman with gray hair said. Daryl was pretty sure she’d said her name was Carol. She seemed cool.

He was wearing a sleeveless white ribbed t-shirt and the pants and boots of his gear. He was not stripping down any further than that. They could use their imagination. Let Shane and the rest of them show their ass, he wasn’t interested. ‘Sides, he wasn’t nearly as pretty as Rick.

Shane had been a shit all day about it. Still giving Daryl a hard time about where his picture would land in the calendar. Daryl really would have just said ‘fuck it’ if he wouldn’t feel guilty about not doing his share. But he would, so here he was. 

It didn’t help that several of the others were loitering around watching the whole thing. Shane was drifting around too, making snarky remarks that Daryl ignored. At least the idiot had his clothes on.

“Sweetie, could you look a little less like you’re on trial for murder?” Carol asked as she clicked away on her fancy camera.

Daryl huffed out a breath, but tried to relax. He never did like getting his picture taken. He always thought he looked too much like he was squinting. And his damn mole that everyone always stared at like it was a second head or something.  He couldn’t even grow a beard to cover it up.

There were pictures with the props for Christmas and New Year’s and for the fourth of July. Took some with flowers for spring and pumpkins for fall.  Daryl refused to put on a tie for father’s day. He wasn’t a father and he didn’t want to think about his own. Carol had still been hollering at him to loosen up, but he just couldn’t. 

He was leaning back against one of the trucks taking a break while Carol was fiddling with her camera, she said she only needed a few more shots, when he was suddenly doused with a full bucket of ice cold water. He stood sputtering, pushing water out of his face and hair when he hear the camera start clicking wildly. He looked through the triangle his arm made as he ran his hands through his hair, giving Carol a hard look. 

“We’re done.” He barked out before walking past Carol to go and get some dry clothes on. The damn t-shirt was nearly transparent and dripping. And damn if Aaron wasn’t standing there checking him out, not that that was  _ ever  _ going to happen. 

He knew that fucker Shane had done it. Mostly because he could hear him braying at the top of his lungs from atop the fire truck. And also because the rest of the house was out and around at the time, like they knew it was going to happen.

All except for Rick. Oh, he was out there, but he didn’t look any happier about Daryl getting drenched than Daryl did. At the moment Rick was staring at Daryl with an intensity that made him shiver. Or maybe it was the damp shirt.

And damn if that Carol wasn’t taking a shit ton of pictures of Rick. Not that he even noticed, he still only had eyes for Daryl. Luckily, the rest of the crew were too busy laughing at Daryl to notice or the two of them would be subjected to a mountain of ribbing.

***

Rick couldn’t wait to finish up his session. He tried, he really did, but he just couldn’t get into it. Posing with a bunch of plastic toys or flags was not something he wanted to be doing on a hot day like today. And no matter how much Michonne begged, he was not taking his shirt off. He would leave that to Shane and Abe. They were both walking around buck naked for their shoots. They had nice bodies, sure, but it really wasn’t what Rick would call attractive. Too muscly. Strong arms and broad shoulders were nice, but the rest was just redundant.

The photographer, Carol, stopped at one point and told Rick he had the prettiest eyes she’d ever seen. That was enough to send Shane off the deep end. He couldn’t stand to hear that someone was better looking than him. 

“Oh, he’s a pretty boy all right,” Shane called out. “Got all the girls and some of the boys chasin’ him.”

Shane was smiling, but it didn’t reach his eyes, one of those smiles that was just for show. Rick just gave him the finger and wished for it to be over as he tried to think of the widows. 

The photographer finally told Rick he was done. He was more than happy to go; there were more important things he could be doing. Like getting a big glass of iced tea and checking to make sure Daryl was alright.

***

Things settled down about a week later, the house being too busy to worry about who was where in the calendar. Car crashes, house fires, and other various tragedies taking precedence over vanity-even Shane’s. Daryl and Rick more worried about earning the trust of their brothers and sisters than earning a cover.

But summer turned to fall and before long it was Halloween. The firehouse was open, giving out candy as well as checking candy for razor blades or needles (not that they had ever found any, but it made the parents happy and it was nice to meet people under happier circumstances).

Shane was there, flirting with any mom who looked like she was single. So was Tara. Rick was happy to check bags. He took the opportunity to warn kids about the dangers of choking on candy, there was more of a danger of that happening than some sicko booby trapping a googoo cluster.

“Hey Rick!” Shane called from the front of the house, everyone turning to look at him, “This little girl here says you’re pretty!”

All the eyes of everyone in the firehouse, including parents and kids, turned to look at Rick who was quickly turning red from all the attention. The little girl in question squeaked and buried her head in her mom’s leg. 

Rick swallowed and said, “Thank you sweetheart,” before turning back to the little boy dressed as a policeman that he’d been talking to.

Shane chuckled, but their was little mirth to it. Daryl could see the green around Shane’s gills. He was always so worried about being the good looking one, even with that damn nose of his. Glenn had told him that Shane had gotten it broken a bunch as a kid from fighting, Daryl forgot now how many times. 

“Aww, don’t be jealous Shane.” Daryl called out. “He ain’t never gonna be as pretty as you!”

Several of the moms cheered for Shane and that seemed to wipe the scowl off his face. He spent the rest of the night mugging it up and taking selfies with the kids and as many moms as he could get an arm around.

Rick thought it was a dead subject until later that night as they were closing up.  Some folks were going out for the evening, Tara and Michonne especially were looking forward to a party they’d been talking about for a week. They were putting makeup on and making a mess of it because they were going as dead people trying to pass as alive or something like that.

Shane peered over Michonne’s shoulder and gave a wicked smile, “You can put on as much makeup as you want. You ain’t ever gonna be as pretty as Rick.”

Michonne met his eyes in the mirror, “Now don’t tell me you still got your panties in a bunch worrying about getting the damn cover? You’ve already gotten it more than anyone else.”

Shane scoffed and ran a hand through his hair, “Ain’t worried. Just nice to have another good looking guy in the house is all.”

“Hey!” Abe called from where he was talking to Glenn about next month’s rotation. 

“I didn’t say I was the only one!” Shane called back, forcing out a fake laugh.

“Not getting the cover Shane, you know it.” Rick said with a sigh. He really was done with this argument. Shane was like a dog with a bone about it. 

“I don’t know.” piped up Tara, “You and Daryl being the new guys, they might do it just for that.

Daryl paused in folding up the table they had used for checking the candy, “Done told that photographer chick not to put me on the cover.” 

“She ain’t the one to make the choice. It’s the marketing guys.” Glenn explained.

Rick put up a hand, “Don’t matter. Daryl and I ain’t getting the cover.” 

“Wanna bet?” Shane smirked.

Rick looked around at the chorus of “ohhhhs” from the more seasoned firefighters. Everyone stopped what they were doing and started drifting to where Daryl and Rick were propping the now folded table against a wall.

“What?” Daryl asked.

Glenn shook his head, “C’mon Shane. They’re new. They don’t know.”

“Know what?” Rick looked over to Shane who was grinning like the Cheshire cat.

Shane mugged it up a bit, enjoying being in the spotlight, “I just have the best ideas for payoffs.”

“So, what? You want to bet a bunch of money or something?” Daryl asked.

“Nah.” Shane looked around the room before his eyes settled on Tara and Michonne. “If one of you guys gets the cover, then the one who does has to make up the one who doesn’t.”

Rick quirked an eyebrow, “And if neither of us do?”

“Well,  _ Pretty Ricky _ , then you guys can put makeup on the winner.” Shane offered.

“I’m in!” Tara called out.

“Me too!” Cried Abe.

Glenn looked around, “Yeah, me too.”

Everyone agreed to the bet. Rick wasn’t worried. there were ten to two odds that neither he nor Daryl would get the cover, so the odds were in their favor.

“Great. Now I got plans so I’ll see ya’ll later.” Shane said as he left with a flourish.

Rick looked over to Daryl to gauge his reaction to the whole thing. Daryl was smiling and mouthed, “Pretty Ricky.”

Damn, Rick thought, just what he needed, a stupid nickname.

***

By Thanksgiving Rick was ready to break Shane’s nose for him again if he called him  _ Pretty Ricky _ one more time. He didn’t mind when Daryl said it though. Usually Daryl only said it when the two of them were alone. Not an easy feat in a firehouse.

Rick had noticed that Daryl had been finding excuses to be alone with him for a while. And to be honest, Rick had done the same with Daryl. Rick had finally worked up the courage to ask Daryl out. And of course Daryl had said yes. 

It was after putting out a small kitchen fire and Daryl was just rolling up a hose and Rick couldn’t help but watch as all of Daryl’s arm muscles flexed with the effort. 

“Hey, Daryl?” Rick asked as he looked around to make sure no one was watching. 

Daryl didn’t stop what he was doing, just flicked his eyes to Rick, “Yeah."

“You, uh free Saturday?” Rick couldn’t stop his hand from running along the back of his neck in nervousness.

Daryl dropped the section of hose he’d just picked up in an uncharacteristic bout of clumsiness. 

“I mean, if you’re busy that’s cool. But I thought we could grab a bite to eat or something.” Rick was trying hard not to hold his breath waiting for an answer.

Daryl licked his lips and went back to rolling hose, not looking at Rick now, “Yeah. I could get a bite to eat.”

Rick smiled, “Great! I’ll text you and you can let me know where to pick you up.”

Daryl nodded his head, “Cool.”

They would be going out the next Saturday after their shift was over. Kinda silly going out on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, but Rick hoped everyone would be home from shopping by then.

It was Black Friday evening, the day before their date and Rick and Daryl had been sent to pick up the house dinner order from the local Olive Garden. Of course the place was packed with holiday shoppers, and of course their order wasn’t ready. 

“Didn’t order no drinks,” Daryl said with some alarm.

“From the table over there,” the waiter gestured to the table full of giggling women. Rick looked back to Daryl to see how he wanted to reject the beers, but Daryl already had his bottle tilted up to his lips taking a long pull.

“Uh, tell them thanks.” Rick said as he tilted his beer bottle in the women’s direction. That prompted another round of laughter that made Rick wonder what they’d done to get so much attention. One beer wouldn’t hurt, they'd walked from the station house. 

They were wearing their t-shirts with the firehouse logo, but that usually only got them winks and nods, not beers. And not tables full of grown women acting like teenagers seeing their crush.

“What got into them?” Rick wondered aloud.

Daryl smirked at him, “Don’t care. Got a free beer out of it.”

Rick had to laugh, leave it Daryl to not see an ulterior motive. 

The ride over had been very nice, there was a heavy moment when Daryl told Rick why he’d decided to be a fireman; his mother had burned up in a house fire when he was just a boy. He’d done some other work first, mechanic, roofer, but finally answered the call well after most folks joined. Rick just liked helping people. He’d thought about being a police officer, but felt he could help more people this way.

Before they even got their dinner the waiter came by with a selection of desserts. “We didn’t order any of these,” Daryl said.

The waiter looked slightly uncomfortable as he gestured to a table that had two older, distinguished looking men, “From that table. They said pick whatever you want.”

Daryl pulled a tiramisu and a cheesecake from the tray before the waiter was even finished. Rick waved at the two men and chose the bread pudding. He’d just have to run an extra five miles this week. 

“Guess it’s the t-shirt,” Daryl said between bites.

Rick was about to answer when a teenage girl walked up to where they were standing by the cash register. She was nervously picking at the hem of her shirt with one hand and had the other behind her back, trying to make eye contact with Rick.

Rick smiled at her, “Hi. Can I help you?”

She giggled nervously and then turned to look over her shoulder at a table full of other giggling teenagers. Several made shooing motions with their hands.

“Um, yeah. So, could you autograph my calendar?” She finally managed to say.

“Damn, I forgot that thing came out today!” Daryl chuckled. 

Rick blushed a bit, he’d never had anyone ask for his autograph before. He’d had plenty of people ask for his phone number, sure, but not his name scrawled across a piece of paper. 

“Sure thing,” he said. “I don’t even know what month I got!”

The girl whipped the calendar from behind her back, “Oh, you didn’t get just a month! You got the cover!”

“Son of a  _ bitch!” _

_ “Daryl!” _

“Sorry, but that means we lost the bet.” Daryl sighed and put his hands over his eyes. 

Rick laughed, “Yeah, but I don’t have to get the makeup!”

“Shut up and sign your damn picture.”

Rick’s smile slid from his face as he turned to the calendar. Because the calendar was just his face, his eyes staring intently into the camera. Instead of a long shot of him standing by the fire truck, it was one of the photos that the photographer had taken while he was looking at Daryl that day. He’d been so focused on Daryl looking so hot, like a wet, pissed off tomcat, he hadn’t even noticed the photographer taking his picture. In that moment Rick had wanted to chase Daryl down and devour him right there.

Somehow the camera caught the emotion in his eyes, the hunger, the desire, the  _ want. _ Rick had been able to hide it every other time, but right then in that moment it was an overwhelming tidal wave that had hit him hard. Daryl had looked so... _edible_ at that moment, Rick hadn’t been able to keep the hunger from his face. 

“Um, Mr. Grimes?” The girl pulled Rick from his thoughts. 

“Sorry! Wait, how did you know my name?” 

The girl laughed and pointed to the front of the calendar where Rick’s name was written in the bottom corner. 

“Oh, right. Okay.” Rick signed his name with a flourish. “Here you go then.” 

“Um, yeah. But can he sign his month too?” She said as she motioned to Daryl.

Daryl’s eyes widened in surprise, but he nodded his head. “Don’t even know what month I got.”

The girl bounced excitedly. “Oh, you’re July!” 

“July? Huh. Wonder where ol’ Shane is then.” Daryl mused aloud.

Quickly flipping to July, Daryl snorted in surprise. Instead of just being at the top half, his image was over the whole double page, the calendar days ghosting over the bottom of his image. The picture itself was from after that douche Shane had dumped the bucket of water on Daryl; where he was pushing his dripping hair out of his face and looking through his arm at Carol, the photographer. His shirt had become so transparent that his nipples, hardened from the cold water, were clearly visible. And his pants had ridden low on his hips, exposing an inch or so of skin all the way around. 

Rick was just as transfixed by the image as Daryl seemed to be, but for different reasons. Rick was again transported back to that moment. And if they weren’t in a busy restaurant Rick’d  _ show _ Daryl how he’d made Rick feel that day. How he wanted to follow the happy trail that was peeking from the top of Daryl’s pants and find the treasure it led to. 

As it was, Rick wanted to get the heck out of there right now, but it wasn’t to be. The girl had just been the first and before long there was a small line of folks waiting for an autograph from the two. It was another thirty minutes before they could leave, and when Rick asked for the check, he was told it was already paid, which was impressive, because they were picking up for the whole station.

“Shit, maybe we should have picked up one too?” Rick asked while they were driving back to the house.

“I ain’t paying for one. We’re gonna get one for free tomorrow anyhow.” In the time that they’d gotten to know each other, Rick had learned that Daryl was often the voice of reason. 

“Yeah, but I didn’t even see where the other guys were.”

Daryl snorted, “Shane got April. ‘S got a stupid umbrella and a goofy ass smile.” 

Rick couldn’t help but smile too, Shane was gonna be _ so _ pissed.

Turned out Shane had already run out and bought a calendar. Rick and Daryl got a round of applause when they walked into the kitchen where everyone was examining it. Rick blushed and Daryl told everyone to shut the hell up.

After handing out everyone’s orders and sitting down to dinner, the calendar was pulled out and thoroughly examined by all. They’d only gotten through a few months (Glenn was January, Michonne a beautiful cupid for Feburary, Tara wore rabbit ears for March, Shane was still April) when Shane banged into the room with Michonne and Tara’s makeup bags.

“Hey!” the two women cried out in unison.

“Alright, time to collect on the bet!” Shane said as he dumped the bags in the middle of the table.

Everyone started talking and hollering at once, telling Shane to let it go, when Daryl’s voice rose over them, “Let’s do this. I ain’t worried about my masculinity.”

Rick turned to Daryl and raised an eyebrow, but Daryl had grim determination written all over his face. “All right then. You wanna do it in the…”

“Nah, we’ll do it right here.” Daryl said as he hopped up on the table. 

“Ok then. MIchonne, Tara, do you mind if we use your makeup?”

Michonne and Tara exchanged looks and seemed to come to an understanding. Michonne turned back to Rick and smiled her wide smile, “Go ahead.”

Rick looked at Daryl who was nervously biting his lip despite his bravado of just a minute before. “Any preference on eye shadow?”

“Blue? But I think you need to clean up my eyebrows first. And don’t skimp on the guyliner.”

“Right. Ok then, I guess I need tweezers?” Rick started rooting through one of the bags (bright green with lemon and lime wedges all over it-probably Tara’s) pulling out mascara, eyeliner, three different eyeshadow palettes. None of which were blue, mostly purple and green. 

“Here, I got blue.” Michonne said as she opened the other bag (purple sparkles with silver accents) and pulled out a bright blue set for Rick.

Rick licked his lips and leaned over to try and apply the eyeliner first. He couldn’t quite get in there though. “Maybe you could, uh..” He sputtered as he motioned to Daryl’s legs.

Daryl smirked but spread his legs so that Rick could get close enough to reach his eyes. Rick took a deep breath in, hoping no one could see how nervous he was as he filled the space between Daryl’s knees. 

“You sure you know what you’re doin?” Daryl asked as Rick leaned in to get closer to his canvas. 

Rick straightened up and took on an air of hurt pride, “I’ll have you know I helped my Granny Jean put on her makeup every Sunday for church from the time I was twelve until I was nineteen.”

“Granny Jean?” Daryl asked.

“Yes, Granny Jean.” Rick said as he leaned back in.

They were so much closer than they’d ever been, Rick could feel Daryl’s aura. Rick shivered a bit as Daryl breathed out, the breath caressing his neck. He was going to have to be careful, or he’d be pushing Daryl down on the table and he was pretty sure Daryl wouldn’t like to ravished in front of their brothers and sisters.

Rick started out the way Daryl had suggested, tweezing stray hairs and trying to shape his brows a bit. Luckily Tara and Michonne gave him some pointers, Granny Jean hadn’t had much in the way of eyebrows, or Daryl would have had none left. Once the ladies had pronounced them done, Rick moved on the the guyliner.

Daryl’s brilliant blue eyes never left his as Rick carefully drew dark lines around them. He probably went a bit too heavy, but Daryl had said not to skimp. Rick never realized how much adding a bit of black stripes could make someone’s eyes transform. Or how the sweep of an unnatural color on an eyelid could change the intensity of a pupil. 

Rick inhaled shakily. He was so close to Daryl he could feel the other man’s breath wash over his neck as he worked, the warmth of it working it’s way all the way to the toes of Rick’s boots. His body had slowly inched closer to his task until his hips were cradled between Daryl’s thighs. He knew the rest of the house was watching, could still hear them hooting and catcalling, but it was like they were underwater and it was just him and Daryl. Daryl licking his lips, Daryl opening his eyes wide for the mascara, Daryl closing his eyes for the shadow. Daryl burning holes in Rick with his smoldering gaze. Daryl making Rick’s composure slip so much that he almost leaned in for a kiss. 

Luckily Shane ran his mouth right about then about how  _ pretty _ Daryl looked and Rick’s concentration was broken. The rest of the room broke into his consciousness like an axe through a burning door, making Rick rock back on his heels.  Daryl jerked backwards at the same time, having been yanked from their bubble as well. Rick looked sheepishly around him, but everyone seemed more interested in trading barbs with Shane. 

“You’re just jealous you can’t pull off,” Abe grabbed the color pallette from Rick, “ _Sapphire_ _Siren_.”

“Sure I could!” Shane shot back.

Michonne tilted her head and smiled at Shane, “Nah, wouldn’t go with your brown eyes.”

“The hell? It’s your eye shadow and you’ve got brown eyes!” Shane sputtered.

Rick couldn’t hear Michonne’s retort over the roar of laughter from the group. To be honest, he really didn’t give a fuck. All he could focus on was the way Daryl had his bottom lip in between his teeth, worrying the bit of flesh in a way that was making Rick a little weak in the knees. He figured the best way to fix that was to find some lipstick or something to put there so Daryl would stop.

Rooting around in first Tara’s and then Michonne’s bags, Rick pulled out a few tubes of lipstick and some gloss. He held them up for Daryl to choose. Daryl squinted his (very prettily made up) eyes as he scrutinized what Rick offered. 

“The lip gloss,” he finally decided, “it has moisturizers.” 

Rick nodded, not taking his eyes from Daryl. He was getting sucked into the fishbowl again, not hearing or seeing the rest of the house, just caught up in the blinding beauty of a made up Daryl. He wanted to go back to that moment, that suspension of time where it was just the two of them. So he went back to work. It was a little tough to put the lip gloss on, having to work around Daryl’s facial hair, so it ended up being smeared up into his moustache. Rick licked his own lips in parody of the wayward gloss.

“You done?” Daryl asked.

Rick realized he was just standing there like an idiot with the gloss wand hovering an inch above Daryl’s lip, “Yeah. Um, yeah, I’m done.” He said as he stepped back to give Daryl a little breathing room. 

Daryl jumped off the table, “Good. I want to see how I look.”

“You look great!” Tara exclaimed.

“You do look mighty fine.” Bob chimed in.

“Pretty as a picture!” Abe called out.

Glenn wolf whistled as Daryl passed him by.

Daryl hammed it up, throwing kisses at anyone that gave him a compliment. And when he got to Shane he grabbed him in a bear hug and kissed him full on the mouth, mussing his lips even more. 

Rick really, really needed to get Daryl alone. But they were technically on shift until midnight, so they still had an hour of harassment to go. Daryl was being a good sport about it though, letting everyone take pictures with their phones. He even took a selfie on his own. 

After everyone settled down and taken whatever pictures they were going to take, Daryl slipped off to the bathroom, Rick in hot pursuit.

Rick skidding through the door, catching Daryl as he was getting his hands wet. “Don’t! Don’t wash it off.”

Daryl met his eyes in the mirror, “Why? You got a thing for me in makeup?”

Rick swallowed and nodded his head, afraid to speak. They shared a long look before Daryl turned off the water and dried his hands, watching Rick expectantly. 

“I uh, would like to help you take it off. Later. At my place.” Rick was proud of himself for not tripping over his words. 

Daryl smirked, “I think we can arrange that.”

Rick slowly drifted over to where Daryl was leaning against the sink, not even aware that he was moving, when the door burst open. Shane came stumbling in, a hand over his eye and black streaks running down his face, Michonne two steps behind him.

“I told you not to try and put on that mascara without a mirror!”

Rick and Daryl took that as their cue to leave and left the other two to figure out their own mess. They only had a few minutes left on shift and then it would be a barely controlled drive to Rick’s apartment based on how Rick was feeling right then. 

The break room was still as raucous as when they left, Abe and Glenn fighting over the calendar, Bob and Tyreese and Aaron playing a game of cards, and Martinez and Tara laughing at something or another that Abe had said.

“I still say I should have gotten the cover, Rick isn’t even showing any skin!” Abe was grousing. 

Glenn shook his head, “I’ve told ya’ll before, it’s not all about how much skin you show, it’s the look in your eye.”

Abe pulled the calendar from Glenn and left the table to stride over to where Rick and Daryl were just coming back into the room, “Look at mine and tell me I don’t have a ‘look’ in my eyes.”

Rick took the calendar that Abe shoved into his chest and flipped through, looking for the tall ginger. Past Glenn’s soulful gaze, Tara’s cheeky grin, Aaron’s heroic pose, and Tyreese’s impressive stance. 

“Well, you’ve got a Santa hat on, so it would be kinda hard to put you on the cover,” Rick said.

“They could digitize that out,” Abe argued.

“Let me see,” Daryl said as he pushed around Rick. 

Daryl took a long look at the picture of Abe standing with his back to the camera. It was a full body shot, with near perfect lighting on the pale man.  And there was a lot of pale man to see because Abe was completely naked except for the santa hat and an artfully draped hose that snaked up from the ground to between the cheeks of his ass, over his shoulder and down his front where the tip of the hose could be seen peeking out from between his legs. He did have quite the smug look on his face, certainly enough for him to be on the cover. 

“You were robbed.” Daryl said as he tossed the calendar on the table.

That started a whole new round of arguments that made Daryl laugh as he walked to the front of the house where the number three engine was parked, Rick trailing behind him.

“What did you do that for?” Rick asked when he caught up.

Daryl gave a small smile, “ ‘Cause now they’ll leave us alone.”

“Oh, right.” Rick said as he drew closer.

Daryl leaned back against the truck, reaching a hand out and pulling Rick close. “Been wantin’ to do this since I started here.”

“Yeah?’ Rick asked with a tilt of his head.

“Yeah,” Daryl replied as he pulled Rick closer, pausing with a question in his eyes.

Rick answered that question by leaning in and slanting his lips across Daryl’s gloss covered ones, the taste of cherries flooding his senses. They took their time, learning which way was more comfortable to lean their heads, how much pressure the other liked, that Daryl liked to nip and Rick liked to suck. 

Slowing the kiss, Rick leaned his forehead against Daryl’s and whispered, “Wanna fuck you so bad.”

Daryl chuckled, “Don’t usually do that, but I’ll make an exception for ya since you’re the man of the hour.”

“Well, don’t I feel special.” Rick joked as he leaned back in for another searing kiss.

“Damn, I won’t even make you wait ‘til tomorrow. Just let me run home for a bit and we can meet back at your place?” Daryl offered between kisses.

Rick smiled, “That sounds like a fine idea.”

**

When the end of the shift came, Daryl and Rick scrambled to leave, Rick in his Jeep, Daryl on his bike.

Tara looked at Michonne after waving the smoke from their tires from her eyes, “I thought you said they were gonna hook up tonight?”

“Girl, I am telling you, those two are gonna fuck like bunnies in the next fourty-five minutes or I will kiss that fool Shane full on the mouth right here in front of the whole house.” Michonne said with conviction.

“How are you gonna know if they do?” Tara asked.

Michonne smirked, “Have you ever known Rick Grimes to keep a secret?”

Tara shook her head no and burst out laughing, Michonne soon joining her. 

**

Daryl was glad he always wore a helmet, there was no way he would ride home with all the makeup on for the whole world to see. And truthfully, he never would have agreed to it, but the thought of Rick being inches away from him, touching him,  _ breathing  _ on him, was too much to pass up. And then the look in Rick’s eyes when he was looking at Daryl in the mirror confirmed it, he was hot for Rick Grimes and he wanted to fuck him in the worst way. 

But Rick wanted to fuck Daryl, and Daryl was beyond caring about that as long as he got to fuck Rick at a later date. He was getting hard just thinking about it. He sped up a bit more. 

When he got home he ran to his room and stripped out of his clothes, ready to jump in the shower. He was just getting ready to jump in when he remembered about the makeup, Rick wanted him to leave it on. Biting his lip in thought, he decided to take a quick bath instead. 

A few minutes later he was letting the water out of the bath and running to change into his favorite pair of Levi’s and his best button up (sans sleeves of course). He grabbed a box of condoms and a bottle of lube from his night stand and then made one more quick trip to the bathroom before heading out the door. 

Rick only lived a few miles away in an apartment complex, Daryl had been there once for a cookout during Labor Day weekend. It was nice. Clean. Just like Rick. 

It was all he could do not to bang on apartment number six in building C, knowing Rick was just on the other side. He was swaying from one foot to the other in anticipation as he waited when Rick flung the door open. 

Rick looked like he’d cleaned up too. His hair was in wet ringlets that made Daryl’s fingers twitch and the plaid button up Rick was wearing was sticking to him in wet patches.  Daryl wasn’t sure why Rick even bothered to get dressed, Daryl’d only done it for the ride to Rick’s house.

“Come in. And take your helmet off. I wanna see.” Rick commanded.

Daryl was brave, but he hadn’t been brave enough to walk through the complex with makeup on. Maybe next time, they could put the makeup on in private. 

Daryl dropped his helmet as soon as he walked through the door. Rick came up behind him and buried his neck in Daryl’s neck, breathing him in. Daryl leaned his head back, savoring the moment.

Eventually Rick runs his hands down the front of Daryl’s body, pulling a moan from him as he leaned into the touch. Daryl had been craving this for months- to be in Rick’s arms, to be kissed by him, to be in him. Except Rick was gonna be in Daryl. And Daryl was going to be ok with that because that meant maybe next time he could be in Rick.

“God, I can’t wait to see you naked.” Rick whispered in Daryl’s ear, the breath of it making the hairs on Daryl’s arms stand up.

“You can, as soon as we get out of the damn doorway.” Daryl scoffed.

Rick smirked, “Fine then. Let’s go.” He let go and led Daryl through the apartment. As they passed the kitchen he paused, “Do you need a drink or anything?”

“Damn, maybe after. I’ve been waitin’ long enough.”

Rick laughed out loud and grabbed Daryl’s hand to lead him down the hall to his room. Daryl didn’t even bother looking around, all he wanted to do was get in the bed.  He unbuttoned his shirt as walked through the door. 

“Shit Daryl,” Rick exclaimed.

“We can discuss it later, it don’t hurt and it doesn’t turn me on, so just pretend it ain’t there. All right?” Daryl did not want to get into his childhood trauma right at the moment. 

Rick didn’t answer, just turned Daryl around and captured his mouth in a deep kiss, his tongue pushing deep into Daryl’s mouth.

Daryl moaned into the kiss, putting his arms around Rick and pulling him closer.  Their bodies melded together, Daryl’s nipples rubbing against the fabric of Rick’s shirt. Their hips slotted against each other’s, like they were made just for this.

Rick ran his hands tentatively along Daryl’s back, but became bolder as Daryl leaned into the touch. Their kisses were getting more frantic, their lips wondering from mouths and marking chins and necks and earlobes. 

“God, I know it makes me misogynistic or something, but you in that makeup just makes me want to fuck your brains out.” Rick said between kisses.

“If you weren’t so fucking hot, I’d probably give you some shit about it. But right now I don’t care. I do care that we still have our clothes on though.” Daryl replied.

Rick stepped back so suddenly Daryl almost stumbled. Keeping his eyes trained on Daryl’s Rick yanked the front of his shirt open, buttons flying everywhere. Daryl went a little cross eyed as he took in the the swirls of chest hair covering Rick and trailing down to disappear in his pants.

And then there was no more talking, no more playing around, no more subtle hints. It was all mouths and hands and feeling and touching. Touches on faces, on firm chests and taut abs, on necks and down arms. Daryl wanted to devour Rick and he felt like Rick was devouring him. 

Daryl wasn’t sure who started taking off who’s pants first, but soon they were both naked. Rick had let out a moan of joy when he saw Daryl was going commando. Daryl would just let him think he did it for hotness and not because he needed to do laundry. Daryl had a special place in his heart for the plain ol’ tighty whiteys that Rick was wearing. 

Rick’s mouth was hot as it traveled along Daryl’s body, stopping on Daryl’s adam’s apple, his nipples, and traveling on down to tease at his belly button. Daryl hissed at the sweet torture. 

Daryl reached out to touch Rick’s throbbing cock, but his hand was batted away, so he contented himself with running his hands through Rick’s curls as Rick had his way with Daryl.

The first touch of Rick’s lips to Daryl’s own dripping cock pulled a hiss from him. And when he was engulfed in the furnace of Rick’s mouth, Daryl shouted loud enough he was sure someone would hear.  But when Rick started rubbing his finger around the pucker of Daryl’s ass, Daryl pulled away. Quickly finding his pants, he pulled out the lube and the condoms he’d brought. 

Rick hummed in appreciation, and took the lube so that he could coat his fingers. He was quickly back to his task of driving Daryl crazy. The teasing finger became two, pushing in. Scissoring and stretching Daryl out. It had been a while since Daryl had been on the receiving end, but he wasn’t a virgin. And damn, did it feel good. Too good, he’d be coming soon if Rick didn’t stop.

“God, just fuck me,” he begged. 

Rick dragged his mouth off of Daryl, pulling his fingers out with a wet pop as he went. “Give me a condom.”

Daryl sat up, but instead of giving it to Rick, he opened the little tin foil and put the condom in his mouth. With his best coquettish look he positioned himself in front of Rick and slowly put the condom on with his mouth, eyes never leaving Rick’s.

“Holy fucking God, I am going to fuck you into next week.” Rick breathed out.

Daryl smirked and swirled his tongue around before pulling back, “How do you want me?”

“On your back, I want to look at that pretty face the whole time I’m fucking you.”

Daryl slowly laid back, enjoying the look of utter frustration on Rick’s face as he took his time. hooking his knees in his hands, he opened himself up to his new lover. 

Rick swore one more time, before inching forward on his knees, cock in hand, ready to push in.

“You ready?” he asked.

Daryl just nodded his head. He’d been ready all night. 

Rick positioned himself and eased in, eyes flicking back and forth from Daryl’s face to where their bodies met. Daryl’s eyes must have closed at the sensation because Rick stopped. When Daryl’s eyes opened in question Rick quirked an eyebrow and made it clear with his eyes that he would go no further if he couldn’t see Daryl’s expression.

Daryl nodded slightly and took his bottom lip between his teeth. This part was the hardest, the stretch, the burn, the adjustment. He knew it would feel incredible in a few minutes, but this first part was why he didn’t bottom often. If Rick wasn’t so fucking hot, he wouldn’t even be doing it now. 

Rick for his part took his time, eyes still flicking between Daryl and their sex. Once he was fully in Daryl, he paused, rubbing at Daryl’s stomach. Their eyes held for a long moment before Rick gave in and fell forward onto Daryl, his mouth seeking Daryl’s.

They savored a long kiss before Rick pulled back enough to take Daryl’s face in his hands, rubbing at the corners of Daryl’s eyes. Daryl knew his makeup was going to be fucked after  _ he _ was fucked, but he figured that’s what Rick was after. 

Rick’s hips finally started to move, just a bit, but enough so that Daryl could feel the drag in his ass. Rick kept his eyes focused on Daryl’s the whole time, his entire body still except for the shallow thrusts of his lower half. 

Daryl went back to biting his lip, eyes never leaving Rick’s. His ass was still protesting the intrusion, burning and stinging. But under the discomfort he could feel the beginnings of the electric pulses that would transform the soreness to pleasure. 

Rick was still so easy with his movements, so unselfish in his lovemaking, that Daryl was in awe. He knew Rick had been burning for this all day, knew that Rick wanted to fuck him with abandon, but yet he was taking his time. And Daryl was done with that.

“Come on Rick, you said you was gonna fuck me into next week,” he chided.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, want it. Want you to fuck me so I still feel it next week.” Daryl was no shrinking violet. He was a man and he could take whatever Rick dished out, even if he was currently wearing makeup. Also, he hoped Michonne never heard that, because she would kick his ass.

Rick’s eyes narrowed and he heaved himself up, hooking Daryl’s legs over his shoulders. He didn’t give any warning other than a hard snap of his hips before he was  _ pounding _ into Daryl. His hips snapping relentlessly, pushing Daryl up in the bed until his head hit the headboard.

Daryl let out one yelp and then put one hand on Rick’s hip and another on the headboard so that he wouldn’t get a bump. He soon forgot about the burn and sting, only feeling the drag and push and the distension of his ass. And then the pleasure roared in him as Rick hit his prostate again and again.

The look in Rick’s eyes was fierce, animalistic, claiming. It was like getting fucked two ways, one with Rick’s cock and one with his eyes. Daryl loved it. 

Rick grabbed Daryl’s cock and started firmly stroking in time to his thrusts. Daryl couldn’t maintain eye contact anymore, overwhelmed by all the intense feelings that Rick was causing him. 

“You gonna come for me Daryl? Gonna come for me pretty baby?” Rick said in a sing-song voice.

And it hit him all at once, all of the things that he was doing that had been taboo to him before, wearing makeup, getting fucked, being called pretty and  _ liking _ it, and so he came. Not with a shout or a curse, but a whimper and a full body paralysis that made Rick falter as he adjusted to Daryl’s orgasm.  

Rick kept fucking Daryl right through his orgasm and for a minute more, Daryl too blissed out to even keep track of how long it took before Rick shuddered and collapsed on Daryl, their sweat and Daryl’s come making a sticky mess between them.

Daryl didn’t even know he’d been crying until Rick wiped the tears from his eyes. He gave a self-conscious laugh, “Never had that happen before.”

Rick smiled warmly at him, “I ain’t either. First time I’ve topped in ages though.”

“You’re shitting me.”

“Nah, I ain’t. But I was truthful with ya, you looked too hot not to fuck with that makeup on.” Rick said before he leaned in for a slow, burning kiss.

“That’s good. ‘Cause next time, I’m topping. And all the times after that.”

Rick bit his lip, “There’s gonna be a next time and times after that?”

“You bet your sweet ass.”

**

Rick let out a sigh of relief as he walked out of Walgreen's. The guy behind the checkout counter had been Eric, and if he wasn’t gay then Rick would eat his boots. So Rick had been spared any embarrassment as he picked up all the things a sexually active gay man would need, plus a full set of makeup. They’d about run out of everything in the last few weeks and he’d volunteered to pick the stuff up since Daryl had bought the supplies last time. Although he hadn’t been able to find the eyeshadow that Michonne had had, so he hoped Daryl would look good in “Crystal Waters” instead.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So, that was supposed to be a quick little funny piece that would end with our boys on a date for Christmas or something. But of course that didn't happen. So I wrote another fic. But [TWDObsessive](http://archiveofourown.org/users/TWDObsessive/pseuds/TWDObsessive) really wanted to see this one come to light, so you can thank her. 
> 
> AND...[lucife56](http://archiveofourown.org/users/lucife56/pseuds/lucife56) did art for this! You can see it if you go to chapter 52 of her TWD fanart. I've tried linking it here, but AO3 is fighting me for some reason.


End file.
